Self-Worth
by wizardofahz
Summary: Ruby and Elsa have a chat about self-worth. Monster to monster. Set post-"Shattered Sight."


Disclaimer: I don't own OUaT and never will blah blah blah you know the drill.

A/N: I know Elsa and Ruby haven't interacted on the show, but they're too similar and I love them both too much not to write something about them interacting. This is set between "Shattered Sight" and "Heroes and Villains".

* * *

Elsa started as she felt a hand on her shoulder.

A surprising number of Storybrooke residents were crammed into Granny's diner to celebrate the end of the Shattered Sight curse, and though she enjoyed the merriment, she had stepped outside for a moment to process the past couple days. Finding Anna, losing Ingrid. It was all a bit much.

She looked up in surprise to see a brunette standing beside her. She hadn't thought anyone was near and certainly hadn't heard anyone approach. This woman seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

"Hi," the brunette said as she sat on the steps beside Elsa. "I'm Ruby."

Elsa gazed at her for a second, trying her best to remember who exactly this woman was. "You are Snow's friend."

"Yeah," Ruby confirmed. "Mind if we talk?"

"Not at all," Elsa said with a gracious smile, the royal type typically reserved for diplomacy talks. She didn't know much about this other woman, so she kept her guard up but figured if she was a friend of Snow White's then she was worth talking to.

"Emma told me something that I found a bit worrying," Ruby began.

Elsa's brow furrowed with concern. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine," Ruby said quickly. "It's you that I'm worried about."

The brunette's statement took Elsa by surprise. "Me?"

Ruby hummed her confirmation. "I wanted to talk to you about tying your self-worth to other people."

"Then you have no reason to worry," Elsa said, her gracious smile returning. "As I'm sure you've heard, I was the one that helped Emma realize we have to accept ourselves to control our magic."

"And thank you for that," Ruby replied sincerely. "I should have talked to her about it ages ago, but I guess I kept hoping it wasn't necessary."

Elsa looked at her curiously. "Do you also have magic?"

"Not exactly" Ruby hedged. She hesitated for a moment before admitting, "I'm a werewolf." She could see the carefully concealed surprise on Elsa's face and the wheels spinning in her mind. "You can ask your question."

"Are the townspeople not afraid of you?" Elsa asked tentatively.

"More than some of them would like to admit or are allowed to admit."

The smile that formed on Ruby's face piqued Elsa's curiosity. "Allowed to admit?"

"Snow won't tolerate any prejudice, and my grandmother… Let's just say you wouldn't want her crossbow aimed at you."

Elsa smiled, though the envy she felt gave it an almost sad look. "It's nice that you have that."

"There's no need for jealousy," Ruby said gently in response to the wistful tone in Elsa's voice. "It took quite a bit of time and doing to get to this point, much like you with Anna and now Emma."

This time Elsa's smile was more genuine. "I'm lucky to have them."

Ruby nodded her agreement but warned, "But you need to be careful. Emma told me what you said before finding Anna: that you thought you would have deserved to be attacked once the Shattered Sight curse hit for not finding Anna."

"Anna is the only family I have left. Without her—"

"You still have yourself. You have Emma, who is incredibly caring and loyal, and you have a kingdom depending on you." Ruby didn't think the kingdom's well-being didn't rank as high as self-esteem and loved ones, but it was worth mentioning given Elsa's engrained sense of responsibility. "From what I've heard you have your ice magic under control, but what happens if you start exhibiting other types of magic? Ingrid had them, so it stands to reason you might as well. If you have trouble with that, are you going to run away again?"

"No," Elsa said, though her voice lacked conviction.

Ruby sighed.

"Look, I can't claim to be an expert on handling these things. When Regina's curse first broke, I was unsure of myself. I hadn't transformed in 28 years. I didn't know if I could still control the wolf. The morning after the first full moon, I was given reason to doubt. Snow and Emma had been transported to the Enchanted Forest, and without Snow I didn't know what to do other than martyr myself. I truly believed I deserved it. Even now, the moment I heard about the Shattered Sight curse, I got my cloak and went as far into the woods and away from civilization as I could. I didn't want to hurt anyone, and I didn't trust myself not to. The truth is that we can hurt people with our magic, but it's not always our fault. Not finding Anna wasn't your fault, magically or otherwise. For people like you and me, that's harder to accept. We can talk a big game to each other about acceptance, but we need to remind ourselves to believe it."

Elsa nodded her understanding. "Easier said than done."

They chatted for a while longer. Eventually, she felt the night breeze on her skin, and though she personally didn't feel the cold, she worried that Ruby did.

"Are you not cold? We can go inside."

Ruby shrugged. "My other half keeps me warm."

A tentative, child-like smile formed on Elsa's face. "May I see her?"

Ruby grinned. "I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

…

Inside the diner, Mary Margaret approached Emma, who had been talking with Ashley and Aurora.

"Have you seen Ruby?"

"Nope." Emma looked around. She spotted her father talking with Anna and Kristoff but didn't see Ruby and realized she didn't see her best friend either. "Actually have you seen Elsa?"

Mary Margaret shook her head.

"Uh, guys," Grumpy said suddenly, staring out the window. "It's snowing."

Mary Margaret and Emma exchanged glances and rushed outside only to find they had no reason to worry. Ruby was in wolf form, jumping about playfully as Elsa giggled and created piles of snow for Ruby to fall into and roll around in.

The few that had followed them outside, including Grumpy, went back inside to avoid the cold, but Emma and Mary Margaret stayed to watch. Mary Margaret leant down to make a snow ball, but Ruby had already sensed her presence (and possibly her intentions).

Suddenly a bed of fresh snow appeared behind Mary Margaret, and the wolf sped toward her, tackling her into the snow. As she felt the cold and wet snow seep through her clothes, Mary Margaret heard a stream of curses emanate from Emma's mouth as Elsa magicked snow to suddenly appear between her clothes and her back.

Ruby ran back to Elsa, who was laughing loudly and deeply, and the two celebrated their victory.

"Emma," Mary Margaret growled. She quickly made a snow ball and rose to her feet. "It's magic time."

* * *

_fin_

Thanks for reading!


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